Netflix A-Z: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Here we are! At the most dreaded movie pick in my Netflix A-Z line-up.  I don’t know why I hate it. Maybe its because its rated badly or maybe its because Megan Fox is in it and I have zero confidence on her. Whatever the reason, my expectations for Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles are about as low as you can ever expect.  So low that they are probably almost non-existent.  I know I should stay positive but hey, at this point, there’s only one way this viewing can go and that’s up. There’s some positivity for you, right?

Let’s go!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)

Director: Jonathan Liebesman

Cast: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner
Voice Cast: Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Pete Ploszek, Johnny Knoxville, Jeremy Howard, Danny Woodburn

When a kingpin threatens New York City, a group of mutated turtle warriors must emerge from the shadows to protect their home.-IMDB

When you watch something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you can’t help but ponder what is a good movie? This is an entertaining movie that reminded me A LOT of Transformers, you know, Age of Extinction.  While its not exactly good and you know that but then it has its redeeming fun traits.  I didn’t care much for the turtles or April and I guess the only person in the movie I really found super adorkable was Will Arnett’s character Vern.  I mean, that guy is downright cute.  And the super goofy and cheesy dialogue does match with the silly TMNT thing and it really made me laugh here and there but what was the story anyways.

TMNT is kind of like a super hero movie, right? What makes a super hero movie work is a convincingly competent villain.  Shredder has all the looks and William Fichtner always makes me want to punch him in the face.  He just has a villainous look and yet, there was no worry that they wouldn’t come out on top.  For two characters that looked villainous and was menacing, they really didn’t make me feel any tension.

One thing did surprise me about this was that I didn’t really mind Megan Fox as April.  I really don’t like her much as an actress but she was okay.  However, while the story didn’t have much intensity to it, its focus was on the Turtles themselves.  It worked really hard to build the goofy turtles who each had their own unique personality.  For that, I give this movie some praise.  It was a lot of fun to watch them.  My favorite hands-down goes to this scene below:

Overall, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is not good.  Its just not.  I know it when I watch it.  I did have a few laughs with the turtles and Will Arnett’s Vern character.  Those moments happened more than I’d like to admit in all its cheesy and goofy glory.  The graphics are decent and there’s some fun here but the story is empty.  Its all show and no substance? Maybe thats harsh but its the truth.  Its like going to see some movies: Transformers, Resident Evil… except I’d probably sit through those before this, but its kind of just random brainless entertainment. Its not as bad as I thought it would be but that’s probably because I didn’t have any expectations for it.

Have you seen this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

Date Night (2010)

I don’t have a lot of my  own movies that I’ve ripped the digital copy on my computer however, I chose this flick to test it out a while back.  So, on last Saturday morning, when I wanted something quick to accompany my breakfast, I switched this on and finished it later on the afternoon.

Director: Shawn Levy

Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, Jimmi Simpson, Common, William Fichtner

A New Jersey couple Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey) has lost their flare in their marriage and go about their life driven by daily routine.  Right from the start, we know that Claire doesn’t trust Phil with a lot of chores because he forgets certain details.  Every week there is one night they schedule for date night where they go to the same restaurant, order the same food and talk about the same things.  Every part of their life is scheduled.  When one of their friends decide to separate and live life better instead of being friends in their own house, they start getting worried about their own relationship.  On the next week of Date Night, they decide to change things up, dress up and go into New York City to a fancy restaurant and enjoy themselves and bring back the spark.  At the restaurant Claw, they realize that they are too late and there are no tables available, thats when Phil decides to take the reservations of the Triplehorns, who were no show.  In the middle of their meal, they get order by two men, Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and Collins (Common) and thats when they learned that these guys are looking for something that were stolen by the actual Triplehorns.  Being mistaken in their identity, they end up running all over town, asking for help from a previous client of Claire, Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg) and realizing that this goes deeper not only into the gang, the police but also the red hot political figure DA Crenshaw (William Fichtner).  Date Night turns out to not only have changed it up but to be life-threatening and all the Fosters want is to get home to their children.

One of the most hilarious segment where I topple over with laughter every time!

I really enjoyed this flick and I always turn it on when I need a good laugh, especially since its a pretty hilarious.  There are some parts, I just topple over with uncontrollable laughter.  What do I like so much about the movie? Maybe its not the plot itself, but as much as the story is pretty straightforward, Steve Carell and Tina Fey together are phenomenal.  They are a blend of awesome comedy.  Their expressions, reactions and dialogue just carry the movie along so well.  This is the first movie I’ve ever seen of Tina Fey and man, she’s won herself another fan in me.

Another factor of awesomeness if that its an action comedy full of ridiculous things that happen.  Ridiculous in a super good way as in its just funny and hilarious moments one after the next.  On top of that, they had a little cameo with James Franco and Mila Kunis who play the actual Triplehorns and Mark Wahlberg who plays the hot muscular (and shirtless) ex-client of Claire’s.  There’s a short appearance of Mark Ruffalo and Kristin Wiig as the soon to be divorced couple and Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester as the babysitter.  Its loaded with a lot of cool cast.

There is lots of shooting and guns, panic and yelling, a hot car totaled mixed with some intense, exciting and laugh out loud moments.  I think that sounds like a pretty awesome formula for an action comedy, don’t you? I always mention this when I look at comedy, its very personal and that’s why even as I was checking up on the scores, there’s always a mix of people who find it funny or not.  Its just a personal preference.  I’m into Steve Carell’s humor and apparently Tina Fey’s as well so this works for me.  Because of that, I notice but manage to overlook any other flaws that it might have.

Have you seen this? Are you fan of Steve Carell and/or Tina Fey? What movies from them would you recommend for either of them? Have you read Tina Fey’s book Bossypants?